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 Post subject: Verses 4:80-82
PostPosted: 07 Jun 2009, 05:24 
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Suggested translation1,2:


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1This translation may have been updated from the original suggested translation as a result of the discussions that follow.
2Click on the {verse number} of a translation to see other good translations of the verse.

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 Post subject: Re: Verses 4:80-82
PostPosted: 14 Sep 2009, 14:52 
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Quote:
{4:80} He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed God; but those who turn away - We have not sent you over them as a guardian.

I suggest,
{4:80} He who obeys the Messenger then he has certainly obeyed God; but he who has turned away - then We have not sent you over them a keeper.

Quote:
{4:81} And they say, "[We pledge] obedience." But when they leave you, a group of them spend the night determining to do other than what you say. But God records what they plan by night. So leave them alone and rely upon God. And sufficient is God as Disposer of affairs.

Several comments:
  1. "Other than what you say" is erroneous translation. It should be "Other than what they say."
  2. "Leave them alone" is not a good translation of أعرض عنهم. A better one, IMHO, is "turn aside from them" if we want to be linguistic.
  3. "Disposer of affairs" is Ok but وكيل simply means trustee.

So, I suggest,
{4:81} And they say, "[We pledge] obedience." But when they have loomed out from your place, a bevy of them spent the night determining to do other than what they say [during the day]. But God writes down what they plan by night. So turn aside from them and rely upon God. And sufficed God a Trustee.

Quote:
{4:82} Then do they not reflect upon the Quran? If it had been from [any] other than God, they would have found within it much contradiction.

Great translation, except that "reflect" translates يتفكرون, not يتدبرون. The latter is better translated "mull over" or "deliberate". I suggest,

{4:82} Do they not then scrutinize the Quran? And if it had been from [any] other than God, they would surely have found in it much discrepancy.

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 Post subject: Re: Verses 4:80-82
PostPosted: 04 Jun 2011, 18:08 
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Linguistic wrote:
I suggest,
{4:82} Do they not then scrutinize the Quran? And if it had been from [any] other than God, they would surely have found in it much discrepancy.

After a lecture I gave, one of the audience asked me about this verse saying, "Does it mean that the Quran may have a few discrepancies?"

In English, if you say, "He is not very forgetful", it means that he may forget a little but overall his memory is good. In English, the negation of emphasis and the emphasis on negation are two different styles. If you wanted to emphasize the negation in the previous example, you'd say, "He is not at all forgetful."

In Arabic, the negation of emphasis and the emphasis on negation are the same thing! For example,

In this verse, God is negating that He forgets a lot, but that means in Arabic that He never forgets.

Another example,

In this verse, God is negating that He does not know much of what they do, but that means in Arabic that He knows everything they do.

A third example,

In this verse, God negates that He does much injustice to people, but that means in Arabic that He does no injustice at all.

You see? Thus, the negation in 4:82, that the Quran "does not have much discrepancy" means it does not have any discrepancies. That's the Arabic style. That's why it's so important to know Arabic well before you can translate the Quran.

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